Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 344 Not an optimistic estimate

After a difficult march, Bagration's column finally overcame all difficulties and joined Kutuzov's troops after losing nearly two thousand people.

Although the French troops near Schöngraben were also pursuing quickly, they had also heard rumors that the remnants of the Austrian army had been gathered around Bohemia, and that the Russian follow-up troops were not far from them.

Although Murat was always full of passion, he was not stupid. He would not advance rashly if he could not catch the Russian troops retreating along the narrow valleys along the Danube River in one blow.

The lesson from Mortier was still there. Although Mortier's ability to fight in battle was better than his, he underestimated the enemy and ended up suffering heavy losses.

Now, Marshal Mortier was also in Kutuzov's military camp, and he got along well with Solovyov, who was temporarily serving as the chief of military supplies.

This young man seemed to be reborn wrongly. He was handsome and delicate, which was not what one would normally imagine a Russian officer to be.

He was also very elegantly spoken and was the Tsar's aide-de-camp and commander of the Guards Corps.

More importantly, he claimed to be a relative of Queen Josephine, which is always interesting.

It is well known that in addition to being lustful, talkative, warm and chatty, the French have another very important characteristic: they are quite gossipy.

In particular, the love story between a noble lady in distress and an old nobleman, which he found interesting when the two parties explained the story.

"Colonel, you could have inherited the family business or served as an attendant to your emperor instead of coming to the front. But it's really unexpected that you chose to come here."

"Maybe, but that kind of life is obviously very boring. You may have to repeat the same work every day, and it is unshakable. In the army, I think it is still very valuable to be with these brothers and defeat the opponents to gain honor."

Obviously, because he knew about this relationship, he was quite careful with his words when speaking.

"So you came here. I think the war will end soon. Although your commander is cautious, I can feel that these generals and your monarch are still eager to fight. When that time comes, what will you do?"

Motier asked this, and Gazan, who was sitting next to him, agreed.

In other words, Solovyov came to visit them alone, because he didn't want to reveal his identity and avoid causing any trouble.

Otherwise, if there were Austrian and Russian officers nearby, they would probably have made the same expression as the one he made while eating salted duck eggs a few days ago.

What's more, he is actually eating salted duck eggs now.

"Colonel, this egg white is too salty!"

"So some people only eat egg yolks. You can try drinking water to dilute this feeling. Of course, this is also a combat strategy, just like flowing water, but it has no fixed form."

"Makes sense."

Although Gazan was eating, he fought without hesitation.

In Dürenstein, he made the Russian army suffer a lot, and even broke through the Russian line with inferior forces at one point.

"Colonel, as for you, you should be a young expert in military theory, otherwise you would not have adopted such means. This also includes the credit of General Schmidt."

At this time, Motier noticed why he failed.

"If you had followed the order to protect the flank, perhaps it wouldn't have been so easy for us to succeed."

After chatting for a while, the cavalry adjutant sent by Kutuzov came in.

"Misha, how was your conversation with these French guys?"

"Ah, I'm fine, what's up?"

"The commander-in-chief wants you to take them to the emperor, along with the flags we captured."

"Ah, okay then."

Kutuzov knew what was going on. He had won the battle and wanted to show off his achievements in front of the emperor, but he still had to be careful about the person he sent.

Solovyov had indeed shown his talent when he served as the temporary quartermaster general in the battles of the previous few days. It was also because he, with the rank of colonel, commanded the three columns on the right wing and carried out the encirclement properly. So it was of course more appropriate for him to go when it was time to show off his achievements.

At the same time, we must also consider that he is quite talkative, and it would be more appropriate for him to expound on Kutuzov's own overall strategy when Alexander is in high spirits.

Solovyov was aware of Kutuzov's intention, and he also agreed with the delaying tactics to draw the French army towards the Carpathian Mountains, but he was also skeptical about whether he could persuade the Tsar successfully.

He missed his former boss, Tsar Paul, a little. Although he had a bad temper, often didn't listen to advice, and was always making trouble, he was willing to accept the opinions of his subordinates and also liked to study and discuss.

More importantly, he would only be in charge of logistics, training and organizing troops in the rear and would not come to the front line.

Since Alexander Nevsky, no matter whether they are the Grand Duke of All Russia, the Tsar, or the Emperor of All Russia, the military command ability of these people is really not that good, except for Constantine, who is now the Crown Prince, who is a brave general who is good at fighting. The other two are really worse than the other.

Especially during the Romanov dynasty, only Peter the Great could go into battle, and he himself always lost when he commanded the troops, so in the end he just let his subordinates do the work.

As for his descendants, the last person who understood this was Paul. Fools like Peter III and several empresses really didn't understand this.

"Misha, we still have to state our opinions when we go to the Emperor."

"Yes, I have already written the overall strategic plan, and I will tell you whether your majesty accepts it or not."

"That's a good attitude. You get along well with these French people."

Madame Kutuzzo was very experienced and noticed that Mortier and Gazan were very friendly to Solovyov. This was obviously not only due to their social skills.

"After all, I have relatives in France, and I seem to be an acquaintance of Marshal Mortier."

"Ah, have you found your stepmother's relatives?"

"Well, it's just a little more scary to say it out loud."

Solovyov's tone was so playful that when he whispered into the old man's ear, Kutuzov just smiled in response.

"If this is true, we may be able to defeat Napoleon one day."

"You don't believe it?" "No! Misha, you are an honest child, but you have too many evil thoughts. Who knows if what you said is true. If it is true, I think your future will be good."

Obviously Kutuzov also knew that as a general, he had to consider not only military matters, but also social circles, diplomacy and politics.

He also added: "This will also help you marry a good wife and improve your family's status."

This is indeed the case. With the fall of their boss, the "new rich" like the Solovyov family who attached themselves to Menshikov became ordinary aristocrats, and their titles were not high. If they had foreign relatives of a relatively high status, it would effectively improve their status.

As for Mortier and Gazin, as well as some French generals, they were all escorted by these Russian hussars and were preparing to go to the headquarters of the Russian Tsar.

On the way, Solovyov was also able to observe the marching status of the Russian Bukhotyn Column. Their morale was still high at this time, and because the two armies were joined together, it was obvious that their spirit was different.

Especially now that two squadrons of the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment were escorting captured French generals to the Tsar, it seemed to give them some unrealistic fantasies.

Perhaps this battle can really defeat the French usurper?

Of course, this was not what Solovyov wanted to consider. He wanted to meet Alexander himself. At this time, he was still considering how to make the Tsar himself accept their opinions.

When Alexander heard about the battle results on the front line, he was very happy, but not to the point of ecstasy.

But his appetite is not small now. He always wants to use the hundreds of thousands of people he has to strike Napoleon and achieve a decisive victory.

And the young officers around him are now eager to try.

As for Mortier, Gazan and others, they were also treated preferentially here. After all, they were also high-level prisoners. After meeting the Tsar and promising not to participate in military operations against Russia and Austria in the near future, they would be released and returned to the French.

If we don't attack Russia and Austria, then we can only target the British.

Even with Alexander here, he still had to talk about the auction scene a little, after all, the Austrian Emperor Franz would be here soon.

As for strategic policies, the two emperors still need to fully exchange views.

Although in the current situation, the Russian army is more numerous and the Tsar himself has more say.

At this time, Solovyov came to him with high-ranking French prisoners and captured French military flags, which really made him eager to try.

Well, this is an old problem of the Romanov family. Once they achieve a little success, they may become arrogant. The reason why the empress never became arrogant is probably because she has always been a foreigner.

"Ah, Solovyov, it looks good. You have won a victory."

"Your Majesty, it is a victory of some magnitude, and I have brought you, on orders from Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov, the captured French general, the flags captured on the battlefield, and the latest battle plan."

"Very good, but before that, we also have to entertain these French friends."

Alexander was obviously very friendly to Mortier and others. He was willing to hold a small banquet here. In the Austrian manors they passed by on the way, the local nobles had collected a lot of red wine and precious ingredients.

As for Motier and others, after this reception, they will be released soon and return to the French side.

Alexander had already finalized his plan when the messenger with Kutuzov's victory arrived.

The prisoners should be released to express goodwill, but at the same time pressure should be put on the French.

However, he had never dealt with Napoleon head-on, and had no idea what kind of conceited man he was who would use the resources at his disposal with extreme intensity, nor did he know that he would not give in just because of the pressure he exerted on him.

As for what was happening on the scene, Solovyov had nothing to participate in. Everyone here was Alexander's close ministers. Although he had some status, there were more people ranked ahead of him.

This is not like when Paul was around. Whenever he appeared next to Paul, he would be on standby two steps behind at any time, and his rank and status were lower.

It seems that being the head of the palace guards is sometimes more important.

The people in front of Alexander, except for Kutuzov's son-in-law Tickenhausen and a few lower-ranking aides-de-camp, all seemed a little arrogant, especially the generals.

This created a strange situation in which the Austrian generals, the Russian Guards generals, and the Tsar himself were all eager to fight.

At the same time, the generals on the Russian front, Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov and the Austrian Emperor all believed that they should accumulate strength and increase their power before engaging in a decisive battle.

Obviously, a barrier was formed, and the generals around Alexander were all ambitious about achieving success and defeating Napoleon. Their current attitude can be described as complacent in a derogatory sense.

After the banquet, Alexander summoned Solovyov alone.

"Mishchenka, you came back from the front. You not only brought back the victory report, but also the latest battle plan, right?"

Peter Volkonsky also sent him to Kutuzov as a general on duty. Now Alexander was facing a group of war advocates.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is our latest battle plan. It includes two parts. On the one hand, we will continue to retreat and gather the strength of the coalition forces as much as possible, so as to seek to attack the French army from the north and south with Archduke Karl, and then defeat Bonaparte. And..."

He could also sense that Alexander did not like this plan.

"Next, our other combat plan is to launch a maneuver in the Olmutz area. We need to use the 10 troops we have now to launch an operation against the French army in the Brno area when the opportunity arises to test the strength of the French main force."

But Alexander should not be satisfied with this plan.

"You can state the main points of both proposals here, Solovyov."

Changing from the very intimate and even a little corny "Mishenka" back to the usual name was not the worst, but Alexander was obviously not satisfied.

"But we have already defeated the French once, which proves that the Russian army can defeat the French, rather than continuing to retreat, which would not be appropriate."

"But your majesty, this was achieved when we had twice as many troops as the enemy, and the enemy's forces were dispersed."

Alexander was still not satisfied. He had intended to make Solovyov a general and have him join the formulation of the combat plan as deputy to the new quartermaster general, General Werosser - after all, Werosser and Solovyov knew each other in Suvorov's headquarters and should be able to cooperate well.

However, his statement somewhat displeased the young and energetic Tsar.

Therefore, this idea was dispelled, but he still wanted to continue listening to opinions, so he signaled Solovyov to continue speaking.

(End of this chapter)